Herts Business School students have unearthed 19th-century farming secrets from long-lost diaries donated to a Rickmansworth museum.

The undergraduates are exploring the life and times of Hertfordshire farmer John White, as recorded in meticulous diaries which span between 1839 and 1896.

The diaries were gifted to the Three Rivers Museum in Rickmansworth by White's relatives and are believed to hold crucial lessons for present-day sustainability and business strategies.

White's Parsonage Farm thrived when many others in the UK struggled.

His diaries are now being transcribed and digitised by volunteers.

Fabian Hiscock, chairman of Three Rivers Museum and former student at the University of Hertfordshire, said: "These lovingly preserved diaries are a historian’s gold.

"They shed light on what life was like for people over 150 years ago in the East of England and give a fascinating insight into daily life and working conditions in this area.

“Above all, this exercise shows how important family history is for the public record and how useful keeping a diary is.

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"John White’s compelling entries are effectively the podcasts of their time and deserve to be widely heard."

The students’ six-month project, named HARVEST, will culminate in an exhibition available online and for public viewing at the museum, funded by the AHRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

Further information is available on the University’s Heritage Hub website and the Three Rivers Museum’s website.